Privacy Policy

Introduction

At ABC we take the responsibility of looking after personal data in our possession seriously. This policy explains who we are and what we do with individuals’ personal data. ‘Personal data’ in this context means data relating to a living individual who can be identified from that data, or can be identified from that data taken together with other information that we hold or we may be likely to obtain. The persons or organisation responsible for determining how and why your personal data is used is known as a ‘Data Controller’.

What personal data we collect and where we get it from

Personal data that has been provided to us by our customers for the purposes of auditing their media products or their policies, processes and procedures against relevant standards

Personal data related to our customers or prospective customers. This includes employees at our customers and other individuals, typically in a business capacity, that use or access our services

For the purposes of auditing

When you transact with a media organisation, for example by buying a magazine, attending an event or visiting a website, they will collect your data and be responsible for it (i.e. they are a ‘data controller’). They will produce, by combining your transaction with others, aggregated statistics for their media products (for example a magazine’s circulation or an event’s attendance figure).

If that media organisation engages us to carry out an audit of their media product(s) they (or agents acting on their behalf) will pass to us the aggregated statistics and supporting information that is necessary for us to carry out the audit. We will therefore be acting as a ‘data controller in common’ with that media organisation in relation to this supporting personal data.

The information shared with us will be relevant to the media product being audited and may include (but not be limited to) the following types of personal data:

Name, job title, company, postal address, email address, telephone number, demographic information, responses to audit personal identifier questions, the fact that you requested or paid for the media product (and how much). This may include information you provide about other people (such as work colleagues) where we assume you have their permission to share this data

For online/digital activity (such as for websites or apps) log file records that may include IP addresses, unique device IDs, indicators of geographic location, cookies and web beacons associated with requests for access, or use of the media product

For ABC customers and prospective customers

If you are registering to use our products or services (or are a prospective customer) we will collect the personal data necessary to provide these services (or engage you regarding them) and keep you updated with information relevant to these services. These will be obtained from you via registration forms, contact with our employees or our website or may be obtained from other publicly available sources such as your website or publicly available directories. This may include (but not be limited to) the following types of personal data:

Name, job title, company, postal address, email address, telephone number. This may include information you provide about other people (such as work colleagues) where we assume you have their permission to share this data

What we do with your personal data and why

For the purposes of auditing

When verifying aggregated statistics:

We reconcile the total records provided with the organisation’s claimed aggregated figures (such as a publication’s circulation, an event’s attendance or a website’s visitors)

We select a sample of records to check against supporting information which may include personal data, such as subscription forms and payment records.

For some media products we may contact a sample of individuals to further verify a particular transaction. For example that you requested a particular magazine or that you attended a particular event. We aim to conduct this in the least intrusive manner using a means of contact that you provided to the media organisation. We will explain why we are contacting you and will not conduct any direct marketing.

When verifying whether a company’s policies, processes and procedures are compliant with relevant standards this may involve us reviewing personal data relevant to the product, to test how an organisation’s systems record and document transactions or activity.

We do not publish any personal data and none of our published output can be linked back to you. The public output of our audit work is a certificate or report on the media product (or organisation) that may include aggregated statistics relating to that product and its audience. You can view examples of these on our website www.abc.org.uk.

We do not use any data obtained for the purposes of auditing for any other purpose, such as direct marketing.

The lawful basis under which we use your Personal Data is legitimate interests. This is because on balance, and taking account of your own interests, we have determined that it is necessary for the legitimate business interests for us (and others) to use your personal data in carrying out the auditing of media product(s) and/or organisations’ policies, processes and procedures.

For ABC customers and prospective customers

We will use your personal data to deliver our products and services, manage your registration or subscriptions and communicate updates and relevant notifications and reminders.

The lawful basis which we apply for this purpose is that it is necessary for the performance of a contract or in order to take the steps prior to entering a contract.

We may send you marketing information about our products and services by post, email or telephone. If you wish to change how marketing messages are sent or wish to stop receiving them please contact us.

The lawful basis which we apply for this purpose is that, on balance, and taking account of your own interests, we have determined that it is necessary for our legitimate business interests to process your personal data for the purposes of direct marketing.

Sharing your personal data

We will only disclose personal data to other third parties (such as regulatory authorities) if we were legally compelled to do so, plus in the following circumstances:

When we share the results of our audit testing with the media organisation that supplied it to us. This would only be in the context of communicating any potential impact on the accuracy of the aggregated statistics arising from our conclusions.

When we share your information with third parties who provide services on our behalf and on our instruction (for example to carry out auditing work or for the storage of records supporting our audit work). These third parties will be subject to contractual obligations to keep your data secure.

Sending your personal data to other jurisdictions

If we transfer your personal data to processors outside the European Economic Areas (EEA) we will do so with appropriate measures and controls to ensure your privacy rights continue to be protected in accordance with the appropriate legislation.

Keeping your personal data secure

We will take specific steps (as required by applicable data protection laws) to ensure we take appropriate security measures to protect your personal data from unlawful or unauthorised processing and accidental loss, destruction or damage.

How long we keep your personal data

We will retain your information for as long as necessary for the uses set out in this policy unless a longer period is required or permitted by law.

Your rights in relation to personal data

Data protection legislation gives you a number of important rights:

Right of access

Subject to certain conditions, you are entitled to have access to your personal data (this is more commonly known as submitting a “data subject access request”). This right also means you can obtain information about how we process your personal information.

Right to data portability

Subject to certain conditions, you are entitled to receive the personal data which you have provided to us and which is processed by us by automated means, in a structured, commonly-used machine readable format.

Rights in relation to inaccurate personal or incomplete data

You may challenge the accuracy or completeness of your personal data and have it corrected or completed, as applicable. You have a responsibility to help us to keep your personal information accurate and up to date. We encourage you to notify us of any changes regarding your personal data as soon as they occur, including changes to your contact details or telephone number.

Right to object to or restrict our data processing

Subject to certain conditions, you have the right to object to or ask us to restrict the processing of your personal data.

Right to erasure

Subject to certain conditions, you are entitled to have your personal data erased (also known as the “right to be forgotten”). For example where your personal data is no longer needed for the purposes it was collected for, or where the relevant processing is unlawful.

Right to withdrawal of consent

As stated above, where our processing of your personal data is based on your consent you have the right to withdraw your consent at any time.

Rights in relation to automated decision making

We do not currently undertake any automated decision making including profiling. However if we do then you have the right to object in relation to automated decision making which has a legal effect or otherwise significantly affects you.

If you wish to exercise any of the above rights please contact us via the post or email address given above.

If you wish to make a complaint please contact us in order that we can look into the issue and respond. You also have the right to complain to the Information Commissioner’s Office (ICO) which enforces data protection laws. For further information on your rights and how to complain to the ICO, please refer to the ICO website.

Updates to this policy

This privacy policy is held on our website or can be provided on request. We may update this policy from time to time and you may check to see if any changes have been made by referencing the date of the last update at the foot of the policy.

Contact us

You can contact us:

By email: This email address is being protected from spambots. You need JavaScript enabled to view it.

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